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Family of Timothy Piazza Breaks Silence

The family of a Penn State student who died after a fraternity event is now speaking out. Timothy Piazza died after falling down stairs and hitting his head several times during an evening of hazing and drinking at a Beta Theta Pi fraternity party.

(Published Monday, May 15, 2017)

Eleven more members of a Penn State fraternity are headed to trial over the death of a pledge after a judge ruled Monday prosecutors put on enough evidence to support hazing and alcohol-related criminal charges.

Judge Steven Lachman also threw out allegations that a member of now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi had erased basement security video to thwart investigators, and dismissed all reckless endangerment counts the defendants had faced.

Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey, died of severe head and abdominal injuries after a night of drinking that followed a pledge bid acceptance ceremony. He fell down a set of basement steps, and the amount of alcohol in his system has been estimated at three or four times the state's legal limit for driving.

After a separate preliminary hearing, another judge previously sent charges against 14 other members of the fraternity to county court for trial.

Lachman dismissed all three charges that Braxton Becker, 21, of Niskayuna, New York, had faced over the allegedly deleted security video — evidence tampering, obstruction and hindering apprehension or prosecution. A message left for his lawyer was not immediately returned.

The judge upheld a total of 35 counts of hazing and 37 alcohol-related offenses against the 11 defendants. In addition to Becker's charges, he also threw out five counts of reckless endangerment, 34 alcohol-related counts, two counts of hazing and one count of criminal conspiracy against various members of the group.